Former Mets player Bobby Bonilla gets his annual check Wednesday from his old team.
Every July 1, the Mets cut Bonilla a check for more than $1 million, and they’ll keep doing it through July 2035. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
The Mets have now paid Bonilla, who is now 57, $11.93 million for the 2000 season that he didn’t play for them ($1,193,248.20 each July 1).
They have $18 million to go. pic.twitter.com/zwaTa91Qfe
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 1, 2020
ESPN wrote the following explaining how the Mets and Bonilla ended up in this situation:
In 2000, the Mets agreed to buy out the remaining $5.9 million on Bonilla’s contract.
However, instead of paying Bonilla the $5.9 million at the time, the Mets agreed to make annual payments of nearly $1.2 million for 25 years starting July 1, 2011, including a negotiated 8% interest.
At the time, Mets ownership was invested in a Bernie Madoff account that promised double-digit returns, and the Mets were poised to make a significant profit if the Madoff account delivered — but that did not work out.
Bobby Bonilla Day is something sports fans everywhere love celebrating. I’ve already received multiple texts about it today.
The dude somehow finessed $5.9 million into tens of millions of dollars, and that’s something I think we can all support.
Annual reminder: Today is Bobby Bonilla Day. So $1.19M more is deposited in his name. (Good news for the Mets: only 15 years to go)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 1, 2020
Imagine being the Mets. They could have paid the guy $5.9 million, and instead chose to pay him nearly $1.2 million for 25 years!
If that’s not an all-time stupid move from an MLB team, then I just don’t know what is. Bonilla is going to be rolling in the green for years to come!
Don’t spend it all in one place, Bobby!